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Saturday, 5 February 2011

The Val d'Orcia of southern Tuscany is famous for its sweeping landscapes. For many visitors, this aspect of the Valdorcia makes the area more attractive even than the more intimate and more densely populated hillscapes of Chianti. However, it's important not to let the photogenic landscape of the Val d'Orcia distract from the beautiful towns of the area. Among these are San Quirico d'Orcia, Bagno Vignoni and Pienza.

Classic view of the Val d'Orcia at sunset

In addition, there two not-to-be missed ecclesiastical structures - Sant'Antimo and Abbadia San Salvatore - plus innumerable castles, among them Castiglione d'Orcia. Another sight well worth a visit is Villa La Foce, a villa and farm created and made famous by Iris Origo and her husband, and still owned by their descendants. Monte Amiata, an extinct volcanic cone, dominates almost any view towards the south. The sights of the Valdorcia or Val d'Orcia of Tuscany, Italy, landscape and towns, are the highlight
of many a trip to Tuscany so that we always advise our visitors to have
two bases for their vacation in Tuscany, one in Chianti and the other in
the Valdorcia.

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About Me

I began academic life as a biologist with an intense interest in anatomy. Through my skill as a scientific illustrator, I moved more and more towards the study of art history and finally of all aspects of the history of art and architecture in Tuscany and Umbria. This was the 'eureka moment' - history became my passion! At the University of Zurich, I specialised in this field and have continued to do so ever since. Since joining ammonet InfoTech as a content researcher, I have had the opportunity to present condensed summaries of many aspects of my field to the internet public along with articles on interesting aspects of life in Tuscany and Umbria.